A manager in a contact center (also known as a call center) typically uses workforce scheduling software to create a schedule which assigns workers (agents) to shifts throughout the workday. The scheduler chooses an optimal schedule that meets constraints while optimizing goals. Inputs such as predicted workload (e.g., call volume in 15-minute intervals, average call duration) and work rules (e.g., maximum shift length, possible shift start time, break requirements) are treated as constraints. Inputs such as expected level of service (e.g., call hold time) are treated as goals. The scheduler generates many possible schedules, and examines the possibilities to find a schedule that optimizes goals while remaining within the constraint boundaries.
In general, existing workforce schedulers accurately schedule an appropriate number of agents to handle the expected workload during each time interval. It is common, however, for workload and/or agent availability to vary from predicted values once a workday has begun. To keep the contact center running at peak performance, the schedule should then be adjusted, by giving some agents overtime or giving some agents time off. Existing schedulers do not support automatically scheduling of overtime or time-off after a schedule has been created and the day has started. Therefore, a contact center manager typically responds by manually creating overtime or time-off events, through which a particular shift for a particular agent is extended or truncated. The process by which a manager manually determines which agents should be assigned overtime or time-off, and where the overtime or time-off should be placed on a schedule, can be time-consuming, tedious, and difficult.